Claimed by My Ex's Stepbrother
"IS IT TRUE?" Grayson's voice thundered through the room.
"Yes!" Tessa said softly. "Yes it is!"
"So you've been cheating on me, haven't you?" He spat.
Her hands trembled. "No, I swear, it's not like that."
He grabbed her arm, his grip bruising her wrist as she squealed in pain.
"Then whose baby are you carrying, huh?" His voice was ice cold.
Tessa shivered, tears blurring her vision.
"I don't know."
**********
Pregnant with the powerful Roman Blackwood's child, while engaged to his unstable stepbrother - Tessa Quinn becomes the key to a ruthless inheritance war where love has no place.
As secrets unravel and danger closes in, Tessa must protect her unborn child while trapped between love, vengeance, and men who want to own her fate.
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Chapter 2
The knock on Tessa's door came sharply in the dead of night, shaking her to her bones. Her heart thudded painfully as she raced down the stairs of her small apartment.
"Tessa," Grayson's voice called out, low and rough. "Please, open up."
Grayson-what the hell was he doing here?
"Tessa, I know you're in there. Please open the door, let's talk."
She pressed her back against the wall, her breath caught in her throat. After everything-his insults, the way he pushed her away, the cold cruelty-she wasn't about to just let him back in.
"What do you want, Grayson?" she yelled, her voice shaking. "Go away."
"Please," he begged, desperation bleeding through the door. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have said any of that."
She swallowed hard, torn between anger and something stubborn inside her that still wanted him.
"Please open the door, Tessa, let's talk." He begged again.
She took in a deep breath, her heart racing in her chest. She walked slowly to the door, yanking it open with all her strength.
"WHAT?" she snapped. "What do you want?"
"Baby," he started. "I didn't mean any of what I said. Please believe me."
"It's too late for all that now, Grayson. You hit me and you insulted me and you let Sofia-"
"Sofia doesn't mean anything," he shrugged. "She was just something that I used to pass the time. I don't love her. I only love you."
She shook her head, backing away from him. "You said she'd be the one to give you your baby."
He chuckled like his words didn't make sense even to him. "That was just something I said because I was drunk. I had a lot to drink before you came in."
"Grayson-"
"You're the one having my baby." He swallowed. "It's you I want. I want the mother of my heir to be you."
Her eyes narrowed in disappointment. So he was only here because he found out she was pregnant? Not because he cared?
He stepped closer, his voice softening just enough to move her. "Tessa, you think I don't want this? You think I'm just saying all this because I'm desperate?"
She shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"No," he said, his eyes locking onto hers. "I want us. I want you. Not because of the baby, but because you are everything I ever wanted. I know I was a terrible bastard, but I'm not asking for forgiveness-I'm asking for a second chance."
She wanted to throw him out. God, she did. But his words were like poison wrapped in honey.
"You're scared," he whispered, his voice dropping lower. "Scared that I'll hurt you again. But I'm different now. You're carrying my child. That means something. We can be a family, Tessa. You and me, and the baby. We can be happy."
Her heart hammered against her ribs. Part of her wanted to scream, run away, and never look back. But another part, a smaller, desperate part wanted to reach out, to believe in his promises.
Before she could think it through, his hand brushed her cheek, warm and firm. His eyes searched hers for permission.
She didn't pull away.
Then his lips were on hers with a desperate urgency that stole her breath away. She wanted to push him off, for all the pain he'd caused.
But instead, she found herself melting into the kiss, the anger and heartbreak tangled up with something else-something dangerous.
Tessa paused quickly, her hand still on Grayson's chest, a sudden flicker of worry cutting through the heat.
"The baby... it's still so early. After all the hormones, the injections, the constant monitoring-I don't want to risk anything."
Grayson pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, his expression softening for the first time that night. "I know. I called the clinic after I saw the report. The nurse checked your latest levels-they're strong, the ultrasound looked perfect. She said the pregnancy is stable now, and you're cleared for normal activities... including this. As long as it feels good and there's no pain, we're okay."
Relief flooded through her, warm and unexpected, chasing away the last of her hesitation.
She smiled faintly, fingers tightening in his shirt. "Then don't hold back."
His hands tangled in her hair, pulling her closer, as if trying to erase all he'd done and said. Her body betrayed her, responding to the warmth, the familiarity, the promise he made with that kiss.
He yanked her shirt over her head without a second thought, his fingers rough and claiming. His mouth left hers to trail scorching kisses down her bare chest, his tongue flicking over every sensitive spot, making her shiver uncontrollably.
"Fuck, Tessa," he growled, his breath ragged as he pressed his body hard against hers. Without warning, he scooped her up, carrying her like she weighed nothing as he stormed toward the stairs.
Every step echoed his hunger. He didn't waste a second, slamming the bedroom door shut behind them, and pinning her against the bed with wild, hot kisses that left her dizzy.
His hands tore at her jeans, ripping them open and sliding inside, skin burning against skin. She gasped as his fingers explored, teasing, dragging her closer to the edge.
Then, with no warning, he slipped inside her, hard and demanding, moving with a brutal urgency that took her breath away. Her nails dug into his back as waves of pleasure and pain came together.
He kissed her fiercely, biting her neck as he drove deeper inside her, his voice rough and ragged in her ear. "You're mine, Tessa. Always will be."
She lost herself in the storm of pleasure, the fierce, intense rhythm of his body moving with hers, the desperate heat pooling between her legs until she shattered, screaming his name into the night.
When it was over, he held her close, sweat slick and heart pounding, whispering promises she wasn't sure were true but she didn't want to let go of.
She woke up to Grayson's arms wrapped around her stomach like he was protecting what was his.
She really let him in last night? Maybe it was for the best; she couldn't raise this child on her own, not with her father's hospital bills piling every second. At least Grayson was the son of a rich family. He could help them both.
The sharp buzz of her phone cut through the silence of her small apartment. She glanced at the screen. It was the hospital. She hesitated for just a second, then she answered.
"Ms. Quinn?" The nurse's voice was soft but serious on the other end.
"Yes?" she said, her heart already pounding.
"I'm sorry to inform you, but there was a mistake during your insemination procedure."
Her breath caught. She sat upright, pushing Grayson's hand away from her. He shrugged but didn't wake up.
"What kind of mistake?" she whispered, slowly stepping out of the room.
"Ma'am. The sperm used for your IVF was not from Grayson Thorne."
She stiffened, her eyes widening in horror.
"What did you just say?"
"There was a mix-up. The sperm belonged to someone else. We're really sorry for this misunderstanding."
Her mind spun. She didn't know what to say. This wasn't just a 'misunderstanding'; this was her life. Grayson's life.
"This isn't Grayson's child?" she whispered, disbelief washing over her.
"Yes, Ms. Quinn," the nurse confirmed gently. "It's not his."
She backed against the wall... trembling, the weight of the news crushing her.
"If this baby is not for Grayson... then whose baby am I carrying?"
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7.8
My abusive ex was threatening a lawsuit that would destroy my father's career and wipe out my PhD. I was completely out of options.
That night, Graham, the boy from next door I hadn't seen in a decade, showed up at my apartment in the middle of a hurricane. Now a wealthy orthopedic surgeon, he offered a transactional marriage: he needed a local wife to keep his family away while he cared for his sick mother, and in return, he would make my ex disappear.
I thought it was a simple deal. But the morning after we signed the marriage license, Graham didn't just scare my ex off—he ruthlessly dismantled him. Then, Graham turned to me. His eyes were dead as he pulled out his phone, showing me a high-resolution photo of the night I illegally sold lab samples to pay off my ex's initial blackmail. He had hired a private investigator to stalk me. If that photo leaked to the FDA, I wouldn't just lose my degree; I'd go to prison.
"I needed a guarantee," he said flatly.
I was shaking with rage and terror. This wasn't a rescue. It was a hostage situation. Why did he hunt me down? Why use my darkest secret to trap me in this twisted marriage?
I couldn't live like this. I demanded an immediate divorce. But at the courthouse, the clerk dropped a bomb on us: state law required a mandatory thirty-day waiting period. Thirty days trapped with a ruthless, manipulative stranger. I had to find a way to break his leverage before the month was up.
9.2
For four years, I was the Silvercrest Pack's biggest joke—a scentless, wolfless Omega who somehow became the Alpha's Luna.
I thought I was just naturally defective, until our fourth anniversary, when I overheard my husband Adrian talking to his Beta.
"I’ve been having the kitchens slip a silver-based compound into her meals since the day I marked her."
He confessed the poison was meant to suppress my inner wolf and keep my womb permanently barren. He only married me as a power play to make his highborn mistress, Seraphina, jealous. While I wept over my empty cradle and apologized to his family for my broken body, he was using pack funds to buy her custom luxury goods, tossing me the leftover wrapping paper. When I finally confronted him about the silver and tried to leave, he flew into a feral rage. He violently smashed my head against the marble vanity, leaving me bleeding on the floor, and locked the bedroom door behind him.
I lay there in the cold, staring at the pool of my own blood. My entire life, my endless pain, and my unborn pups were nothing but a cruel, calculated joke to the man who was supposed to be my Mate.
But Adrian didn't know I wasn't just a brainless Omega.
I wiped the blood from my face, climbed down the balcony trellis into the freezing rain, and pulled out an encrypted burner phone.
"The cage is broken. Initiate Phase Two."
7.7
Rory stood on the witness stand, forced by her father into an impossible choice: secure her dying mother's medical funding, or save her innocent boyfriend.
She looked Corbin right in his trusting eyes and lied to the court, testifying that he was the one driving the car during the fatal hit-and-run, sending him to a maximum-security prison for ten years.
The betrayal destroyed him. Corbin's father died of a heart attack upon hearing the guilty verdict. Six years later, Corbin returned as a ruthless billionaire and systematically blacklisted Rory from every job in the city. He cornered her into singing at his private club, humiliating her by forcing her to drink scotch—knowing she was severely allergic—and making her throw away his promise ring just to earn a stack of cash.
"Remember this moment. This is only the beginning."
She endured his cruel revenge because she was hiding a desperate secret: she was raising his five-year-old daughter, Willa. But when Willa's congenital heart defect suddenly worsened, requiring an impossible one-million-dollar surgery, Rory realized Corbin's calculated blockade had left her completely trapped with no way to save their child.
Staring at the sterile hospital walls, the last shred of her guilt burned away, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. He had destroyed her career and backed her into a corner, but he was the only one with the money. Wiping her tears, Rory turned and headed straight for Vance Tower.
8.4
On the night before her wedding, Navia Harrison discovers her fiancé in bed with her step-sister-and worse, the two of them are already planning how to get rid of her after the marriage.
Humiliated and consumed by hatred, Navia exposes their affair during the wedding ceremony itself, destroying both families' reputations in a single move.
Then, she meets him.
Leonel Crawford - the cold and dangerously powerful head of the Crawford family. Untouchable. Ruthless. A man no woman has ever been able to keep close.
He's also her ex-fiancé's uncle.
One impulsive proposal changes everything.
"If you need a wife... marry me instead."
"Honestly... we'd make a pretty good match."
9.3
A pitiful wolfless Omega, Lana discovers that she is pregnant for her beloved fiancée and Alpha to be, Asher. He is the only man she has ever loved, but her world turns upside down when her Fiancée coldly reveals that he is getting married to her sister who is also already pregnant for him.
To make matters worse, her cruel sister and cheating Fiancé banish her from her only home!
Lana is devastated, but thankfully, her best friend Jasper, helps her runaway and hide her pregnancy from her former fiancée.
8 years later, Lana has become the mother to Asher's triplets and is engaged to be married to her best friend Jasper.
But by a cruel twist of fate, Alpha Asher suddenly changes his mind and kidnaps her!
So what is Lana supposed to do when she forced to choose between two powerful men, while also fighting off the traitors and enemies surrounding her?
9.7
Giana woke up drugged and burning with fever in a luxurious hotel suite. Standing before her was Cornel Stark, the most ruthless billionaire in New York.
Memories of her past life stabbed into her brain. In that life, her adoptive family and her fiancé Gary had stolen her inheritance and left her to die a brutal, agonizing death.
She also remembered how fighting Cornel only made him more violent. So this time, she didn't scream.
She endured his brutal punishment, escaped the moment he let his guard down, and swallowed a Plan B pill on the freezing streets.
Returning to her adoptive family's mansion, she faced the people who had destroyed her. Her fiancé and her stepsister put on masks of fake concern, secretly mocking her.
Instead of throwing a useless tantrum like before, Giana deliberately threw herself down the steep wooden stairs.
She smashed her head against the marble floor, using her own blood to shatter their plans and win back her mother's trust.
She thought she had finally taken control. She was ready to crush the people who had betrayed her and live for herself.
But she didn't understand why the billionaire she had just escaped was suddenly turning her life upside down.
When she woke up in the hospital, her room wasn't filled with her family's fake tears, but an ocean of blood-red roses.
The heavy door swung open, and Cornel Stark walked in, his gray eyes locking onto her with a dark, predatory hunger.
"Remember this feeling, Giana. Every breath you take belongs to me now."